Game apparatus.



PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903.

2 sums-sum 2 D. H. TALBER'I. GAME APPARATUS. ArrLIonIon FILED un. 2a. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Patented June 16, 1903 GAM E APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,987, dated June 16, 1903. Application filed January 23, 1903. Serial No. 140,308. (No model.)

This invention relates generally to game apparatus, and specifically to that class in which balls rolled by hand are employed for tripping objects located at the end of an alley or table after the manner of ordinary tenpins.

The object of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus of the above de-.

scription which while partaking of the features of an ordinarytenpin-alley will difier therefrom in the manner of playingthe game and in the character of the objects employed to be struck by the balls, the differences presented operating to impart added interest to the sport and the exercise of great skill in accomplishing the winning of a game.

A further object is to obviate the necessity of the employment of an attendant for setting up the devices to be struck or for returning the balls to the player.

WVith these and other objects in view, aswill appear as the nature of theinvention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction and combination of parts 4 of a game apparatus, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts, there is illustrated one form of embodiment of the invention capable of carrying the same into practical operation, it being understood that the elements therein exhibited may be varied or changed as to shape, proportion, and exact manner of assemblage without departing from the spirit thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is alviewin perspective of a game apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the paddles or pins, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a view in vertical longitudinal section, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow thereon. Fig. 4 is a modified form of locking means for the paddle.

The present invention is an improvement "upona gameapparatus for which Letters Patent were issued to me December 2, 1902, as No. 714,969, and the improvements herein relate more specifically to the novel arrangement of the pin or paddle mechanism and means for setting the same.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the alley or table, constructed in the usual or any preferred manner and mounted upon a base 2, the latter being supported in any suitable manner, as by legs 3, as shown in Fig. 1, and secured at its rear to posts 4 and 5, the table being of less width than the base to present two gutters, as usual, the balls being prevented from rolling off the gutters by verti- 'cal side pieces 6.

At the rear of the alley is provided the usual cushion 7, which terminates at its lower end in a transversely-disposed chute 8, the bottom of which is inclined and merges into a race 9, leading to the front of the alley, the race and chute operating as an automatic means for returning the balls to the players, thereby obviating the necessity of the employment of an attendant for the purpose. The description thus generally given is of one form of alley adapted for use in connection with the present game and is in all substantial respects the same as that shown in the patent referred to; but it is to be understood that the same may be otherwise constructed and still be Within the scope of the invention.

Supported at a suitable distance above the table at the rear end of the alloy is a deck 10,

the body or bottom portion of which serves side'of the deck are two angle-irons 14, through the lower portions of which pass a rod or bar 15, upon which are pivotally mounted in any preferred manner the pins or paddles 11, constituting the objects to be struck, there being shown in this instance but five of these devices; but it is to be understood that this number may be increased if found necessary ordesirable. The paddles are bypreference constructed of wood and have their lower ends cushioned at 16, pret'erably with heavy leather, the lower front end of the paddle being cut away to form a recess between which and the leather cushion is disposed a rubber cushion 17, the latter being held secured to the paddle by screws or bolts 18. The paddles are eccentricall y pivoted with the greatestweight at the upper ends,or,in other words, are top counterweighted, as defined from the paddles of the patent referred to, which are bottom counterweighted-that is, with the greatest weight at the bottomand by this arrangement when tripped they will automatically remain in a horizontal plane, thereby avoiding the necessity of the employment of any holding means for keeping them in this position, such as is shown in the patent referred to. This is of advantage, inasmuch as it dispenses with the employment of such holding device, which in practice has been found to groove the lower ends of the cushions, so that in a short time such devices cease to be operative for holding the pins in their tripped position. This necessitates the provision of new cushions, resulting in considerable expense, trouble, and annoyance. Furthermore, owing to the violent impact between the springs constituting the holding devices these latter frequently break, and thus interfere with the playing of the game. As shown in Fig. 2, the lower ends of the paddles are reduced in width in order that unless a ball strikes fairly between two of them only one will be tripped, it being a desideratum and necessary to make a score that at least two of the paddles be tripped with one ball, for under the rules of the game unless all of the paddles are tripped the player does not score. Under some conditions it might be desirable to have the lower ends of' the paddles arranged at such distance above the alley as to render it possible to trip only one paddle, and this is efiected by adjusting mechanism, presently to be described. The upper or broad end of the paddles bear each a number, the highest numbers in this instance being borne by the two outside paddles and the lower numbers by intermediate ones, the center paddle bearing the lowest, the reason for this arrangement being that it is easier to strike an intermediate paddle than a corner one, and thus the more expert the player is the higher will be his score. As a means for holding the paddles in operative position a locking device 19 is combined with each paddle and comprises an arm 20, the forward end of which is downturned, as at 21, to hook over the upper edge of the paddle, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. These arms extend through orifices 22 in the deck above the cushion l2 and project rearward beyond the flange 1 3, and each has connected with it the a lever 34:, pivoted adjacent to the alley.

lower end of a coiled spring 22, the upper end of which has connected with it an adjusting-bolt 23, which passes through a plate 24, secured to the flange, a nut 25, screwed on each bolt, serving to place the spring under the requisite tension. The spring operates to hold the outer hooked end 21 down in the position shown in Fig. 3, and in order that it may yield when the paddle is struck the orifice is made of sufficiently greater size than the locking device to permit it to rise, thus to free the paddle. The locking device 'is held in position upon the deck by a pin 25, loosely seated in an orifice in the base portion of the flange 13 and in the deck.

One of the essential features of the present invention is the provision of means for causing the paddle when tripped gradually tostop, and thus obviate jar and impact, and this is efiected by a combined bu fer and paddle-setting device 26, hinged to the lower portion of the deck at 27--in-this instance by ordinary strap hinges, although, if preferred, other forms of hinges may be employed. To permit the said device to occupy a position substantially at right angles to the deck, and thus present an effective stop to the paddles, the lower end of the deck and the outer end of the said device are beveled, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The under side of the butter and paddle-setting device has combined with it a cushion 28, against which the paddle is adapted to strike when tripped, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The cushion 28 projects some distance beyond the surface of the paddle-setting device in order that when struck bya tripped paddle it will gradually yield, and this causes the paddle to come to rest without jar or impact. To hold the paddle-setting device in the position shown, a coiled spring 29 is provided, one end of which is secured to the end of the buffer at 30 and the other end to the back of the deck, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. To eifect return of the paddles to their normal position after having been tripped, a cord or wire rope 31 is employed, one end of which is secured at 32 to the end of the buffer, thence is passed through an eye 33, secured to a part of the alley, and extends back to the front of the alley, where it is connected with It will be seen that by drawing the lever backward the butter will be drawn down, and thereby automatically effect resetting of the paddles.

To effect adj listment of the deck with relation-to the alley, thus to render the device applicable for playing with balls of different sizes, the posts or uprights 4 and 5 are provided with vertical slots 35, through which pass bolts 36, carried by the deck, nuts 37, turned on the ends of the bolts, serving to hold thedeck in the proper adjustment, it being seen that by loosening these nuts the deck and width of the paddles maybe raised or lowered for the purposes designed.

IIS

The form of apparatus herein shown will be found thoroughly effective in accomplishing the objects sought; but it will be obvious that in its construction various changes in the different parts thereof may be resorted to according to the tastes of the builder, and for this reason it is to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the precise mode of construction and manner of arrangement of the parts herein described and shown, as these may be widely departed from without changing the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the modification shown in Fig. at the arm which engages the upper ends of and locks the paddles is controlled by the spring 22 as in Fig. 3, and in addition by a spring 38, seated in asocket 39 and adapted to be compressed when the latching end of the lever rises to free the paddles, which construction dispenses with the pins 25 for holding the lever.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged on a plane above the rear end thereof, a plurality of pivoted pins or paddles supported by the deck and having a normal tendency to assume an approximately horizontal plane and an element adapted to cushion the paddles when struck and to .return them to their normal positions.

2. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged on a plane above the rear end thereof, a plurality of top-counterweighted pivoted pins or paddles supported by the deck, means for holding the paddles in normal or vertical position, and an ele ment carried by the deck to cushion the paddles and to return them to their normal positions when tripped.

3. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged above the same, a plurality of top-counterweighted pins or paddles pivotally supported by the deck, and'a paddle-setting device provided with a bufier. 4. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a vertically-adj ustable deck, a plurality of top-counterweighted paddles supported by the deck, anda paddle-setting device provided with a buffer.

5. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged on a plane above the rear end thereof, a plurality of paddles pivotally supported by the deck and having a normal tendency to assume an approximately horizontal plane, a paddle-setting device provided with a bufier, and means operable from the front of the table or alley to actuate the said device thus to effect setting of the paddles.

6. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged on a plane above the rear end thereof, .a plurality of paddles pivotally supported by the deck and having a normal tendency to assume an approximately horizontal plane, a paddle-setting device supported by the deck and provided with a buffer, and means operable from the front of the table or alloy to rock the said device, thus to efiect setting of the paddles.

7. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a plurality of top counterweighted paddles arranged adjacent to and supported above one end thereof, and a paddle-setting device, provided with a bufier, arranged in rear of the paddles.

8. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged at the rear end thereof and having its front provided with numbers, top-counterweighted paddles pivotally supported by the deck and bearing numbers corresponding to those thereon, means operating automatically to hold the paddles in vertical position, a paddle-setting device provided with a bufier, and means operable from the front of the alley to actuate the setting device.

9. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, an adjustable deck arranged at the rear end thereof and supporting a plurality of pivoted top-counterweighted paddles, a paddle-setting device pivoted to the deck in rear of the paddles and occupying a position normally substantially at right angles thereto, and a buffer carried by the said device.

10. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged at the rear end thereof and including means for holding the same at any desired adjustment with relation to the alley, a plurality of top-counterweighted paddles pivotally supported by the deck, and a paddle-setting device, provided with a buffer, pivotally supported by the deck and occupying a position normally substantially at right angles to the paddles.

11. Agame apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged on a plane above the rear end thereof and provided with looking devices, a plurality of top-counterweighted paddles pivotally supported by the deck and held normally in vertical position by the locking devices, and a paddle-setting device carried by the deck and provided with a buffer.

12. A game apparatus comprising a table or alley, a deck arranged on a plane above the rear end thereof and provided with cushioning means, a plurality of top-counterweighted paddles pivotally supported by the deck, spring-controlled locking devices arranged above the paddles, and a paddle-setting'device pivotally supported by the deck and provided with a buffer.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL H. TALBERT.

WVitn esses:

SOHUYLER A. HAAS, I HARLAN S. RATLIFF. 

